The Uda school traces its origin to the late Kamakura period, when the monk-smith Konyudo Kunimitsu migrated from Uda District in Yamato Province to Etchu Province, thereby founding a lineage that would prosper through the Nanbokucho and Muromachi periods as a major force in the northern provinces. Because the school originated in Yamato, its works naturally carry a strong Yamato-den temperament, yet the proximity to Etchu masters such as Norishige and Go also introduced elements of the Soshu-den into its technical repertoire. Kunimitsu's sons Kunifusa and Kunimune stand as the school's most representative figures, with Kunitsugu and Tomonori extending the lineage through multiple generations. Works from the late Kamakura through the Nanbokucho period are broadly referred to as Ko-Uda, and the earliest dated example -- bearing a Gen'o 3 (1321) inscription -- constitutes valuable documentary material for understanding the school's origins. The name Kunifusa was transmitted across numerous generations from the Nanbokucho era through the close of the Muromachi period, while Kunitsugu smiths continued from the Enbun era through at least the Tenbun era, demonstrating the sustained vitality of the lineage across nearly three centuries.

The Uda school's collective technical identity is anchored in a distinctive forging character that the NBTHK identifies as strongly representative of Hokurikudo-mono -- works of the northern provinces. The kitae characteristically shows itame-hada mixed with mokume and nagare-hada, with the grain tending to stand; ji-nie adheres well with frequent chikei, and the steel carries a somewhat dark, kanairo tone with a blackish coloration that becomes whitish in places -- a quality repeatedly cited as diagnostic of the school. The hamon ranges from suguha-based tempers with shallow notare mixed with ko-gunome to broader patterns incorporating gunome and togariba; the nioi is deep, nie adheres thickly, and activities including sunagashi and kinsuji run throughout. A hallmark of the school is the appearance of somewhat coarse, rounded nie within the hardened edge -- a trait observed across Kunifusa, Tomonori, and Kunitsugu's works. The boshi frequently tends toward togari with a deep turn-back and hakikake, or in certain works forms o-maru with a tendency toward yakitsume that conveys the school's Yamato provenance. At its most dramatic, as seen in Tomonori's boldest productions, nie is powerfully applied with coarse particles spilling into the ji, while tobiyaki and muneyaki develop to reveal a hitatsura-like appearance -- demonstrating that the school commanded not only the restrained Yamato idiom but also the vigorous, nie-laden expressiveness associated with Etchu forging.

The NBTHK consistently affirms Kunifusa as "one of the foremost representatives of the Uda school," noting that "the excellence of the forging in the jigane is a point that warrants an appraisal to Kunifusa" -- a distinction from Kunimune, whose works more often show a somewhat standing grain. Tomonori stands as a smith of high technical ability whose range encompasses both restrained suguha and boldly nie-laden hitatsura-style works, while the founder Kunimitsu's earliest pieces establish the school's characteristic golden-toned steel with its distinctive blackish cast. Kunitsugu's corpus, spanning blade forms from tachi through tanto to yari -- including a rare signed spear predating the common Muromachi-period proliferation -- illustrates the breadth of the school's production. For a school whose extant works are not particularly numerous, each surviving piece carries considerable documentary value, and the NBTHK repeatedly describes designated examples as kenzen and of notably high workmanship. The Uda school occupies a distinctive position within the Japanese sword tradition as the preeminent lineage of the northern provinces: a school that inherited the Yamato homeland's restrained aesthetic, absorbed the vigorous nie-laden character of Etchu forging, and sustained both across a productive span extending from the late Kamakura period through the close of the Muromachi era.

The Uda school traces its origin to the late Kamakura period, when the monk-smith Konyudo Kunimitsu migrated from Uda District in Yamato Province to Etchu Province, thereby founding a lineage that would prosper through the Nanbokucho and Muromachi periods as a major force in the northern provinces. Because the school originated in Yamato, its works naturally carry a strong Yamato-den temperament, yet the proximity to Etchu masters such as Norishige and Go also introduced elements of the Soshu-den into its technical repertoire. Kunimitsu's sons Kunifusa and Kunimune stand as the school's most representative figures, with Kunitsugu and Tomonori extending the lineage through multiple generations. Works from the late Kamakura through the Nanbokucho period are broadly referred to as Ko-Uda, and the earliest dated example -- bearing a Gen'o 3 (1321) inscription -- constitutes valuable documentary material for understanding the school's origins. The name Kunifusa was transmitted across numerous generations from the Nanbokucho era through the close of the Muromachi period, while Kunitsugu smiths continued from the Enbun era through at least the Tenbun era, demonstrating the sustained vitality of the lineage across nearly three centuries.

The Uda school's collective technical identity is anchored in a distinctive forging character that the NBTHK identifies as strongly representative of Hokurikudo-mono -- works of the northern provinces. The kitae characteristically shows itame-hada mixed with mokume and nagare-hada, with the grain tending to stand; ji-nie adheres well with frequent chikei, and the steel carries a somewhat dark, kanairo tone with a blackish coloration that becomes whitish in places -- a quality repeatedly cited as diagnostic of the school. The hamon ranges from suguha-based tempers with shallow notare mixed with ko-gunome to broader patterns incorporating gunome and togariba; the nioi is deep, nie adheres thickly, and activities including sunagashi and kinsuji run throughout. A hallmark of the school is the appearance of somewhat coarse, rounded nie within the hardened edge -- a trait observed across Kunifusa, Tomonori, and Kunitsugu's works. The boshi frequently tends toward togari with a deep turn-back and hakikake, or in certain works forms o-maru with a tendency toward yakitsume that conveys the school's Yamato provenance. At its most dramatic, as seen in Tomonori's boldest productions, nie is powerfully applied with coarse particles spilling into the ji, while tobiyaki and muneyaki develop to reveal a hitatsura-like appearance -- demonstrating that the school commanded not only the restrained Yamato idiom but also the vigorous, nie-laden expressiveness associated with Etchu forging.

The NBTHK consistently affirms Kunifusa as "one of the foremost representatives of the Uda school," noting that "the excellence of the forging in the jigane is a point that warrants an appraisal to Kunifusa" -- a distinction from Kunimune, whose works more often show a somewhat standing grain. Tomonori stands as a smith of high technical ability whose range encompasses both restrained suguha and boldly nie-laden hitatsura-style works, while the founder Kunimitsu's earliest pieces establish the school's characteristic golden-toned steel with its distinctive blackish cast. Kunitsugu's corpus, spanning blade forms from tachi through tanto to yari -- including a rare signed spear predating the common Muromachi-period proliferation -- illustrates the breadth of the school's production. For a school whose extant works are not particularly numerous, each surviving piece carries considerable documentary value, and the NBTHK repeatedly describes designated examples as kenzen and of notably high workmanship. The Uda school occupies a distinctive position within the Japanese sword tradition as the preeminent lineage of the northern provinces: a school that inherited the Yamato homeland's restrained aesthetic, absorbed the vigorous nie-laden character of Etchu forging, and sustained both across a productive span extending from the late Kamakura period through the close of the Muromachi era.